ArmInfo. The opposition faction "Armenia" of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia will vote against the draft state budget for 2025 submitted by the government. This was stated on December 3 during the discussions on the final version of the draft basic economic law of Armenia by Artur Khachatryan, a member of the National Assembly from the "Armenia" faction.
According to him, just a few days ago the opposition stated that all the main parameters presented in the draft state budget were far from reality. A short time later, the government assessed the reality by reducing the economic growth rate indicators by 10%. The deputy expressed confidence that these indicators will also be reduced, since the authorities' claims about the presence of a 5.5% GDP growth potential are simply false. "If GDP growth in three years was 10%, then a 1.5% growth in just 1 year cannot lead to an increase in the GDP growth potential of 5.5%," the deputy said.
He added that the economic growth rate is declining, the state budget expenditure is not being fulfilled, the number of tourists is decreasing, and the volume of transfers is also decreasing. At the same time, the oppositionist continued, foreign trade will decrease by 40% next year, the deficit will exceed 600 billion drams, and the state debt will approach 6 trillion drams or more than 15 billion dollars.
Khachatryan noted that there is not a single area in which the authorities have not failed. As of October of this year, according to the RA Statistical Committee, the level of the country's economy (not to be confused with GDP growth) has decreased by 5%. The reason for this, according to the deputy, is the wrong economic policy of the authorities. At one of the last meetings, instead of encouraging local producers, the government provided benefits to a company that imports milk powder and produces dairy products locally.
"After all this, the authorities are surprised that agriculture is not developing, citizens are leaving villages, lands are not being cultivated, and instead of a real economy, we have only an idea of the jewelry industry," the parliamentarian emphasized.
In response, Babken Tunyan, an MP from the ruling Civil Contract faction, said that it seemed that the opposition was trying to protect business from the authorities. "You shouldn't think that you care about the GDP growth rate and the welfare of citizens more than we do," said the representative of the ruling party. He drew attention to the fact that a 10% reduction in the GDP growth rate sounds better than a 0.6% reduction. The MP added that the presented version of the country's main economic law is designed to serve the interests of each and everyone, calling for a vote for the 2025 state budget draft. It should be noted that the revenue side of the state budget of Armenia next year will be 2.837 trillion drams, the expenditure side - 3.441 trillion drams, the deficit will be 604 billion drams. At the same time, the GDP growth rate is projected at 5.1%.
